The American Iris Society 
Mary Helen Wingate Lloyd 
Nearly a year ago a committee consisting of Mr. Lee R. Bonne- 
witz, Mr. James Boyd, Mr. W. F. Christman, Mr. H. A. Gleason, 
Mrs. Francis King, Mr. B. Y. Morrison, Miss Grace Sturdevant, and 
Mr. John C. Wister called together a group of professional and ama- 
teur growers interested in the development of Iris, to discuss the 
forming of a society along the lines of the other special plant organiza- 
tions. On the 29th of January, 1920, while the snow lay in heavy 
drifts outside, some seventy enthusiasts gathered in "The Mansion" 
in the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx Park and organized 
the American Iris Society. It was a notable assemblage of men and 
women interested in the growth of this *most beautiful flower and 
thanks to work previously done in committees, with great speed and 
little friction the constitution was shaped, the officers elected and a 
tentative program for the year outlined. 
That year is over and much has been accomplished. We have 
over 500 members, distributed in every state in the Union, Canada, 
Australia, New Zealand, France, England, Belgium and Holland. 
Thanks to Mr. Madison Cooper we have still our official space in 
"The Flower Grower," the excellent magazine he pubhshes, and to 
which we are entitled by our membership fee of three dollars. In 
its pages our secretary, Mr. Sturdevant, writes a monthly article of 
great value; our president, Mr, Wister, makes his reports; exhibitions 
are written up, new Iris are registered and information exchanged 
between the members. Most valuable Bulletins have been issued 
during the year. A Trial Garden has been planted in the New York 
Botanical Gardens, beautifully located, and filled with five or six 
hundred varieties contributed by members. Many plants have been 
sent to the Test Garden at Cornell University and to the Brooklyn 
Botanic Garden. It is the intention of the Society to establish Test 
Grounds at various points as membership increases and interest 
grows. 
The policy of the Iris- Society is to encourage the growing of 
this fascinating flower among amateurs, to develop the best of the 
new varieties, and prevent the duplication of poor specimens. To 
assist the culture of Iris by studying and reporting on pests and soils 
in different locaHties. To aid the professional grower by check-lists, 
testing of new seedlings and encouraging of exhibitions. It is the 
policy of the Iris Society to help small organizations to hold shows 
both by advice and by presenting medals, ribbons or certificates. 
The hardest work of the year has been done by the officers of 
the Society on a check list and on nomenclature — a field in which 
practically no one had toiled. Catalogues back to 1790 have been 
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